Companies House Balance Sheet

ZZaffy

I am thinking of buying a small equestrian business. It is registered at Companies' House. But I do not know how to read the yearly financial statements. An explanation with a sample of Companies' House yearly accounts sheet would be very helpful. Thank you.

lincroft1710

Would suggest you hire an accountant, they should easily be able to tell if the business is viable.

Pennywise

You'll learn nothing of use from the balance sheet filed at Companies House - it won't show turnover nor profit.

What you need is a copy of the full statutory accounts, and even better, the management accounts from the seller or the selling agents. Walk away if they won't show you the full accounts.

ZZaffy

I thought the companies house fiscal accounts were submitted by a company accountant for the general public to read. I just want to know how to interpret them.

ZZaffy

Pennywise. Thank you for your sound advice.

HaveAGo

ZZaffy wrote: »

I thought the companies house fiscal accounts were submitted by a company accountant for the general public to read. I just want to know how to interpret them.

You thought wrong. Small company exemptions mean very little info can be gleaned from companies house.

JCS1

ZZaffy wrote: »

I thought the companies house fiscal accounts were submitted by a company accountant for the general public to read. I just want to know how to interpret them.

Not always, if the company is classed as "small" then they don't need to have their accounts audited.

https://www.gov.uk/audit-exemptions-for-private-limited-companies